Flushing-tank for sewers.



No. 818,875. PATENTED APR. 24, 1906, R. C. DE LA HUNT. FLUSHING TANK PORSEWBRS.

APPLICATION FILED JULYZB, 1905.

fy/ s@ REVERDY CLEMENT DE LA HUNT, OF CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA.

FLUSHlNG-TANK FOR SEWERS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 24, 1906.

Application flied July 28,1905. Serial. No. 271,639.

T0 @ZZ whom t puny concern,.-

Beit known that I, REVEEDY CLEMENT DE LA HUNT, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Cedar Rapids, in the county of Linn and State ofIowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inFlushing-Tanks for Sewers; and I do hereby declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

My invention relates to flushing-tanks for sewers and the like, and ismore particularly an improvement on the subject-matter of anotherapplication filed by me in the United States Patent Office. Its objectis to provide a device of this character adapted to operateautomatically at predetermined eriods to discharge the contents of thetanY from its outlet.

Another object is to employ an arrangement of siphons for controllingthe operation of the apparatus.

A still further object is to provide means whereby all portions of theflushing-tank are restored to their initial conditions after eachflushing operation, and thereby insure accurate results at all times andwithout requiring the attention of operators.

A still further object is to provide means whereby the siphons of theapparatus can be adjusted for use in tanks of different depths, therebypermitting the tanks to be placed and accurately operated at variousdistances below the surface of the ground without requiring theconstruction of a different apparatus for each size of tank.

My improved flushing apparatus is especially adapted for use inconnection with sewers, whether the same be shallow or of considerabledepth, and it consists of a tank or receptacle for water having atrap-like outlet in the bottom thereof which establishes communicationbetween the tank and the sewer-pipes. The trap projects some distanceabove the bottom of the tank and is capped by a bell, the edge of whichis supported a short distance above the tank-bottom. This bell containsa siphon, the short leg of which has its inlet end between the edge ofthe bell and the bottom of the tank, while the long leg thereof projectsinto the trap. Each member of the trap has a sleeve, and adjustablymounted within the sleeves is a secondary trap or by-pass. The sleeve ofthe inlet member of the trap communicates with the interior of saidmember, while the other sleeve is adapted to open into the sewer-pipesat the same level with the trap. l/Vater is continually supplied to thetank in any suitable manner, and when it reaches a predetermined levelthe weight thereof becomes sullicient to force the air within the belldown through the secondary trap, and thereby permits the water to flowinto the long member of the trap and then outward into the sewer-pipe.After this flow of water ceases that portion thereof contained withinthe trap will fall to a level below the outlet end of the trap; but thislevel will be gradually raised because of the action of the siphon,which continues to draw water out of the tank and discharge it into thetrap, thereby restoring the level of the water to its normal condition,and after the water within the tank has passed below the inlet end ofthe siphon the siphonic action is of course broken, and the waterentering the tank through the inlet will then slowly rise until theaction above mentioned can be repeated automatically.

The invention further consists in providing a secondary trap or by-passwhich can be adjusted so that the column of water contained in theoutlet leg or member thereof is equal to the depth of the watercontained within the tank. The apparatus is therefore adjustable for usewith tanks of different depths and will automatically operate atpredetermined periods, said periods being regulated by the length of thesecondary trap and by the rapidity with which the tank is supplied withwater.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown the preferred form of myinvention.

In said drawings, Figure l is a section through the tank and showing thecondition of the parts just prior to the flushing operation. Fig. 2 isan enlarged section through the main trap of the apparatus, and Fig. 3is a similar-view of the secondary trap detached.

Referring to the figures by numerals of references, 1 is a tank of anysuitable construction and which has the upper end thereof closed by acover 2, having air-inlets 3, whereby the atmospheric pressure withinthe tank may be continually maintained. This cover is adapted to beplaced on a level with the ground and can be located, of course, at anysuitable distance `from the bottom of the tank, said distance dependingupon the distance between the sewer-pipes and the level of IOO IIO

the ground. Where the tank is necessarily a shallow one, the capacitythereof can bev materially increased by extending tiles 4 therefrom, asshown by dotted lines, said tiles communicating with the interior of thetank at a point below the water-level which must be reached within thetank. Any suitable water-inlet, such as a pipe 5, extends into the tank,preferably above a bell 6, which is placed directly over one end 7 of atrap 8. This end 7 of the trap projects into the tank some distance fromthe bottom thereof7 and the bell is supported thereon in any preferredmanner, as by means of brackets 9, interposed between the bell and trap.Formed within `one side of the bell is a short leg 10 of a siphon, saidleg having its inlet ends disposed below the bell and close tothe bottomof the tank. The other member 11 of the siphon projects downward asuitable distance into the inlet end 7 of the trap. The long leg 12 oftrap 8 has an'outlet-opening 13 at a point in alinement with the outletend of the short leg 14 of the trap, and extending from thisoutletopening is a sleeve 15. Another sleeve 16 is formed upon the leg14 of the trap and has an outlet flush with the outlet end of the leg14. Slidably mounted within these two sleeves 15 and 16 is a U-shapedsecondary trap or bypass 17 which can be adjusted longitudinally withinthe sleeves, so that the distance between the outlet end 18 of thesleeve 16 and the bottom of trap 17, plus the depth of the water inthebell, will be equal to the distance from the bottom of the tank 1 tothe highest water-level therein. The leg 14 and the sleeve 16 of thetrap Lopen into the sewer-pipe 19, and this ipe is preferably connectedby a pipe 20 with the upper portion of the tank 1, so that the warmgases within the pipe 19 will be discharged into the tank and preventthe water from freezing. This pipe also permits the inspection of thesewer-pipe.

From the foregoing description it is believed that the operation of theflushing apparatus will be fully understood. In building the tank thesame is of course necessarily placed between the surface of the groundand the sewer-pipe, and if this pipe is but a short distance from thesurface only a very shallow tank can be employed. Under otherconditions, however, tanks of considerable depth may be utilized. As thedistance between the bottom of the tank and its higest water-level is animportant factor to be considered 'in the operation of the apparatus, itis necessary to utilize the adjustable secondary trap in order toconstruct discharging means of this character which can be used withtanks of dierent depths.

In Fi 1 I have shown the secondary trap adjuste so that the distancefrom the outlet 18 to the bottom of the secondary trap, plus the depthof water in the bell, isl equal to the depth of the water within thetank when at its highest level. When the water reaches this point, theweight thereof will be su'liicient to force the air which is trapped inbell 6 down through the leg 12 of trap 8 into the outlet 13 and throughthe secondary trap 17 to the outlet 18. The water will therefore be freeto rise within the bell and will iow outward over the inlet end 7 of thetrap 8 and thence into the pipe 19. As soon as the level of the waterwithin the tank falls to the level of the inlet end 7 0f trap 8 theweight of the water within the long leg 12 of the trap will cause anoverflow at the discharge end of said trap and the water in the le 12will drop down toward the'bottom of sai trap and finally reassume aposition within both the legs 12 and 14 with its level below the outletend of the trap 8. This small quantity of water in the trap would not,of course, oder sufficient resistance to the water within the tank whensubsequently filled to cause the flushing operation to occur at theproper period, and therefore to leave the water at this level wouldseriously interfere with the proper operation of the apparatus. It istherefore necessary to automatically raise the level of the water withinthe trap 8, so that it will be flush with the outlet end of said trap.rI`his result is attained by the use of trap 8 and drops to the lowposition within j the trap, as above mentioned, the Siphon which wasfilled simultaneously with the discharge of the water into the trap 8continues to act until the water within the tank is withdrawn to a levelbelow the bell 6. A sufhcient quantity of water will be discharged intothe trap in this manner to restore the water therein to the properlevel, and when the water within the tank is drawn off so that its levelcomes below the inlet end of the Siphon the siphonic action will beinterrupted and the further discharge of water into the trap will bestopped. The water which has been continuously flowing into the tankfrom the pipe 5 will thus be free to rise therein and reassume itsformer level, after which the operation hereinbefore described will berepeated. It will be seen that by means of this apparatus the ushingaction is automatic and the parts of the apparatus being operated bynatural forces cannot get out of order from any cause and do not requireany attention. By regulating the discharge of water from the pipe 5theperiods at which the tank is emptied can be readily regulated.Atmospheric pressure within the tank is preserved at all times, becausethe cover 2 has air-inlets 3, and therefore there is no danger of aninsufficient supply of air being trapped within the bell 6. l

The bell 6, with its Siphon 10 opening into IOO iro

a trap S, constitutes the subject-matter of another application filed byme in the United States Patent Office.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. In an apparatus of the character described the combination with atank having a water-inlet of an outlet-trap extending into the tank, abell upon the inlet end of the trap, a siphon having both of its endsbelow the bell and one of said ends within the trap, and an adjustabledevice connecting the legs of the trap and constituting a means ofcommunication between said portions.

2. In a flushing apparatus the combina tion with a tank open toatmospheric pressure and having a water-inlet; of an outlettrapprojecting into the tank, an adjustable secondary trap communicatingwith the inlet portion of the outlet-trap, means upon the outlet-trapconstitutingan air-trap to retard the discharge of water from the tankinto the outlet-trap, and a siphon for supplying water to theoutlet-trap from levels below the end thereof.

3. In a flushing apparatus the combination with a tank having awater-inlet; of an outlet-trap projecting into the tank and hav ing itsinlet end above the bottom of the tank, air-trapping means surroundingthe inlet end of the trap for retarding the overflow of water 'from thetank into the trap, a siphon for Afeeding water to the trap from levelsbelow the air-trapping means, and an adjustable secondary trapconnecting opposite portions of the outlet-trap.

4. The combination with a trap having an opening in one leg thereof 3 ofa longitudinallyadjustable secondary trap interposed between the legs ofthe Vfirst-mentioned trap and communicating at its ends with saidopening and with the outlet end of the trap, respectively.

5. In a lI'lushing apparatus an outlet-trap having an aperture in thelong leg thereof and a sleeve communicating with said outlet, a sleeveupon the short leg of the trap and a by pass mounted at its ends withinthe sleeves* 6. A controlling apparatus for flushingtanks comprising anoutlet-trap having legs of different lengths, alongitudinally-adjustable secondary trap connecting said legs, a bellupon and surrounding the inlet or long leg of the trap, and a Siphonhaving its opposite ends within the trap and below the bell,respectively.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

REVERDY CLEMENT DE LA HUNT.

Iitnessesz CLARA DE LA HUNT, MARY WILLIAMS.

